While it rained heavily outside, it could not dampen the spirit of 1000-strong audience inside Pragjyoti at Machkhowa, Guwahati in the evening of July 25 as they cheered young aspirants of JD Institute of Fashion Technology in their annual awards show. Billed ‘4th JD Excellence in Design Awards’, the event saw the budding designers displaying their creative collections, be it with fabrics, jewellery or in interior decoration. Says RC Dalal, executive director of the institute: “Whether you design a cocktail evening collection for women or a swimwear ensemble for men, it’s important to let the world know about your self-expression and that’s why ‘Me — that’s what it’s all about’ is the theme for this year’s design awards.”

The 20-sequence fashion extravaganza began as the clock struck seven in the evening. ‘Astitva – our existence’ was the opening sequence where Kirti Jain, Shweta Sharma and Anandita Mazika fused the rich and vibrant Assamese and Rajasthani cultures by using fabrics of Assam (pat, eri, etc) and mirror work and gota from Rajasthan. There were skirts and gowns for females and jackets, pant and dhoti for males in a range of colours.

‘The confused me’ was the theme of the sequence of last year’s winner Shreya Singh. One must appreciate the beautiful frocks she prepared with silk and tissues. The romantic dreamer in Ashmanur Ahmed came to the fore in his sequence ‘Eve’s garden’ that had saris, mekhela chadars and salwar suits embellished with beautiful hand embroidery.

‘Under the mushroom, over the rainbow’ was the theme of the sequence presented by Saranga Dutta, who created frocks with cut-pieces of various vibrant colours that were handcrafted together. RK Bela Devi reflected her adventurous spirit in her sequence ‘Wild child’ — a collection of body-hugging light olive green short frocks and half pants with brown border.

The sequence ‘In sync’ by Lallawnpuli Duati was a collection of black and grey evening gowns, skirts and tops as well as male trousers and waist coats. Then there party dress created by Roohi Jain, Seema Jangid and Meghna Jain. Their sequence ‘Love — a journey of life’ showcased sherwanis and lehengas that surely carried the divine emotion called love.

Priya Jain’s sequence ‘Tarang’ was influenced by Indian music as she extensively used items like flute, ghungroo, etc on frocks, shirts, pants as also the headgear and all these creations had universal appeal like music itself. The audience was spellbound when Sweety Sharma showcased her collection ‘Orchidz’, with models walking the ramp in long gowns designed in different orchid shapes in yellow, purple, green etc. Kokeela Mazumder presented the sequence ‘The branded babe’, where she showcased casual sports wear, skirts, etc with vibrant printed patchwork, accessorized with caps, bags and bangles.

Choreographer Prasantt Ghosh dramatized Surajit Dey’s sequence ‘Angel is from devil’s blood’ where model Sanju was shown as a devil trying to break his handcuff and chain to incarnate from bad to good. There was also dramatization of few other sequences like Priyanka Sharma’s ‘Tranquil soul’ and Premlata Chauhan, Tarang Goenka and Julee Dihingia’s ‘Oscar — an aspiration’.

Design, cut and flow of fabrics and colour spectrum of other sequences like ‘Aqua serene’, ‘Youth fiesta’, ‘Virgo girl’, ‘Spunk’, ‘Uttkarsh’, ‘High flyer’ and ‘Whimsical escape’ were also applauded by the audience. In addition, Payal Bhatia, Ritu Jain and Tulika Gupta presented their beautiful award-winning jewellery collection ‘Chhavi’ that exhibited the balanced nature of modern women.

And when it came to name the winners ‘The confused me’, ‘In sync’, ‘Wild child’, ‘Eve’s garden’ and ‘Love — a journey of life’ were the chosen four for the evening’s awards. In the interior decoration section, Megha Sharma’s ‘Switch sofa-cum-table’, Madhumita Chanda’s ‘Furniture beyond’, Barkha Agarwal’s ‘Tech-space’ and Neha Agarwal’s ‘Meeh rochs’ were really wonderful. They all won awards.

Pijush Kanti Dhar